


The Disposal of the Dead

by ncfan



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Cultural Differences, Customs, Double Drabble, Headcanon, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-04
Packaged: 2017-12-22 09:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/911876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncfan/pseuds/ncfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some differences in funerary customs among the Elves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Disposal of the Dead

The Elves of Aman do not bury their dead; they burn them.

There is no point in having graves, for all their friends and loved ones will return to them one day. They will seek healing and rest and instruction in the Halls of Waiting, and they will be re-embodied, and returned to them. There is grief and mourning with death, oh indeed, but there will be an end.

In Aman, Elves live with their memories, and wait. They have the solace of knowing that they will see all whom they have lost again, and have no need for graves.

-0-0-0-

The Elves of Middle-Earth bury their dead, and mark their graves well.

Of every re-embodied Elf, only Glorfindel has ever been allowed back to Middle-Earth. There is a vast, sundering sea dividing every other Elf of Aman from their loved ones in Middle-Earth. Even if they are re-embodied, they are still separated.

So those in Middle-Earth, Sinda, Silvan, Exile and Avar alike bury their dead. They bury their dead, and mark the graves well. They will not see their loved ones again, only when and if they sail themselves. To those who remain sundered still, this is their only comfort.


End file.
